50-Year-Old Can Be Every Bit as Fit as Someone 30 Years Younger, but Exercise Is Key

Who is likely to be fitter: a lazy 20-year-old or an active 50-year-old?

New research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology‘s K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine provides statistical evidence that the 50-year-old can be every bit as fit as someone 30 years younger. But exercise — how much, and how intense — is the key, say K.G. Jebsen Center researchers.

Middle-aged exercise buffs who might be discouraged by the effects of aging on their overall fitness can take heart in research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine. Activity is far more important than age in determining fitness levels — and an active 50-year-old can be every bit as fit as a sedentary 20-year-old, says Ulrik Wisloff, Jebsen Center director and principle investigator of the study.

The study shows that by increasing the intensity of your exercise, you can beat back the risk of metabolic syndrome, the troublesome set of risk factors that can predispose people to type 2 diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular problems.

“Physical condition is the most important factor in describing an individual’s overall health, almost like a report card,” says Stian Thoresen Aspenes, who was recently awarded his PhD by NTNU for his research conducted at the K.G. Jebsen Center.

HUNT participants underwent laboratory tests in 2007-2008 to check their peak oxygen uptake, called VO2peak, which is used as a measure of overall fitness. This collection of information represents the largest database in the world of objectively measured VO2peak in healthy men and women aged 20-90 years old.

The detailed information from the database enables researchers to compare measures of fitness with cardiovascular risk factors and other assessments of overall health, giving them the statistical power to confirm what previous studies have suggested — that youth isn’t everything when it comes to being fit. Their data also show how those who were least fit also had the worst measures of cardiovascular health, such as higher blood pressures and higher cholesterol levels.

Age and fitness

The underpinnings of the K.G. Jebsen Center’s research go back in time and far away in place, to Dallas in 1965, when researchers selected five healthy 20-year-olds to spend three weeks in bed, for what has become one of the most famous fitness studies of all, the Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study. Predictably, the five 20-year-olds lost fitness after their three weeks of bed rest — with their measure of maximum oxygen uptake, VO2 Max, dropping by a whopping 27 percent. But it was what happened 30 years later, when researchers followed up on the study and retested these same men, which delivered the biggest surprise.

Time had not been so charitable to these men. On average, they had gained 23 kg, and their body fat percentage had doubled — so they were far from fit. But when researchers tested their peak oxygen uptake, it had dropped by only 11 percent as compared to their 20-year-old healthy selves.

Intensity more important than duration

Research from the K.G. Jebsen Center goes well beyond the Dallas findings, and shows that fit 50-year olds can be as fit as 20-year olds who don’t exercise much. But exercise — how much, and how intense — is the key to maintaining this fitness. When the Jebsen Center researchers looked at the importance of the intensity of exercise versus the duration, intensity was far more important than duration in determining peak oxygen uptake.

They have also looked at the benefits of high intensity exercise in the form of interval training — where four or more short periods (typically 4 minutes) of very high intensity exercise are followed by a similar number of short periods of lower intensity exercise. This approach, called 4×4 interval training, is a quick way to increase your overall fitness, research from the Jebsen Center has confirmed.

Cardiovascular risks

Exercise buffs will naturally be interested in the Jebsen Center’s research, but their findings apply to anyone who wants to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

For example, the researchers found that women whose fitness values were below the median VO2peak (<35.1 mL kg-1 min-1) were five times more likely to have a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors compared to those in the highest quartile of VO2peak (40.8 mL kg-1 min-1).

For men below the median (<44.2 mL kg-1 min-1), the risk was even higher — they were fully eight times more likely to have a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors compared to those in the highest quartile of VO2peak (50.5 mL kg- 1 min-1). Even small differences in VO2peak were found to be associated with worsening cardiovascular risk profiles.

One Comment

Well I do know from my dad that as you age the excess weight from the muscles is not so good for your joints. From his perspective he'd rather be fit from running and body weights than any lifting and I don't think you're weak if you switch those up. Completely understandable.